Travelling With Friends
by Lydz123
Summary: It's the start of the Summer Holidays and Harry is feeling depressed and alone, when one day he receives a peculiar letter from Ron!
1. A Peculiar Letter

Travelling with Friends  
  
Chapter 1 – A Peculiar Letter!  
  
As school holidays go, children, teenagers and even are adults are pleased when they finally begin. Everyone needs a rest away from all the hassle and hectic work schedules! So when the break starts they're generally greeted with welcome by everyone; everyone except one! Harry Potter was dreading his current holidays and couldn't wait to return home. I say home, because to him it was! Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was not a normal school, but that didn't mean it's pupils treated it as home; at least most of them didn't! But Harry Potter was not like the others, the ones that returned home to be greeted by hugs and kisses, which they grudgingly took! Harry didn't have any parents, his had been killed when he was just a baby, by the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. He had killed them when Harry was just a baby, and then Voldemort had turned him, but due to a strange sequence of events Harry survived that curse that had killed so many powerful witches and wizards with no more than a scar on his forehead! It was for that reason that he now lay on his back in the cramped bedroom, at his aunt and uncle's house, on the cold summer day this story starts.  
Harry lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling as he ate a slice of cake he had been sent by Mrs Weasley on his birthday. Mrs Weasley was the mother of Ron, and Ron was Harry's best friends whom he had met 5 years ago on the train to Hogwarts. Along with the cake from his mother, Ron had sent Harry a cheap collection of Quidditch balls which included a wooden, golden painted snitch. Ron thought Harry could play with them when he was bored or was trying to get away from Dudley, his spoilt cousin. In his thank you letter to Ron, Harry had written how grateful he was, but failed to mention that he couldn't possibly use them for the simple fact that his Uncle Vernon had padlocked his broomstick inside the cupboard under the stairs, the day Harry had returned to No.4 Privet Drive.  
Harry also had another close friend called Hermione. Along with the birthday card wishing Harry well and saying how she hoped he had not starved to death yet, Hermione had sent him a book called 'The story of the Deadly Dragon and other tales' by F.I.R.Eball and a poster of the 'Tutshill Tornadoes' whom Harry had grown a liking to, much to the dislike of Ron! Along with his presents from his two close friends, Harry had also received a pair of Quidditch gloves, from Rubeus Hagrid, the half giant gamekeeper at Hogwarts; a woolly jumper, from Dobby the house elf, who had tried to kill Harry in his second year; and a can of butterbeer which refilled itself, from his godfather Sirius, who was on the run from the Ministry of Magic.  
As Harry lay on his bed, listening to the rain outside, he contemplated his situation and wondered if it could get any worse; his parents were dead, he was treated like dirt by his Aunt and Uncle; and he was continuously running into an evil wizard who wanted to kill him. At times like that it is not easy to be positive! Suddenly there was a tapping at the window and as Harry looked up he saw the large, white, beautiful bark owl, he knew to be his pet owl Hedwig. "Hi Hedwig." Harry said has he got up and opened the window. As soon as he had done so, the large bird flew into his room and landing gentle on top of Harry's chest of drawers. She opened her beak and the letter which she was holding fell onto the wooden cupboard. Harry walked over to her and patted her gently, until he noticed the scruffy writing on the parchment. "It's from Ron, Hedwig!" Harry said as he noticed the scruffy writing, which he knew belonged to his friend. He picked up the letter and sat down with it on the end of his bed; being careful not to rip the parchment, he opened the seal and unfolded it. Once opened Harry read aloud what it said,  
  
"It's a lovely day for a  
walk in the garden  
don't you think?"  
  
Harry sat dumbfounded, confused as to why Ron's letter had been so short and also, to what the heck it could mean! After five minutes of trying to figure out what it meant, Harry began to get annoyed. Was Ron off his rocker? Had he gone totally barmy? First of all, Ron had never written, or even said, anything quite so random to Harry before. And second of all, what is he on about 'a lovely day', Harry thought as another rumble of thunder sounded from outside.  
Harry was starting to get angry and he got up and was just figuring out how many swear words he could possible fit into his reply to Ron, when he stared out the window, and stopped. Staring down at the, now muddy, lawn, Harry saw a large yellow rubber duck, sitting pride of place on top of the bird table. Harry blinked, not believing what he was seeing, and then suddenly he had a thought. He stared at the peculiar letter from Ron and his eyes widened. He looked down at the garden again and now saw standing on the lawn four red-headed people. Harry jumped in alarm, but a smile appeared on his face and he dashed out of his room, down the stairs, and out the backdoor, straight into the back of Uncle Vernon! "Ow!" cried Uncle Vernon! "Vernon!" cried Aunt Petunia! "Harry!" cried Ron! 


	2. A Holiday to Remember

Chapter 2 – A Holiday to remember!  
  
"What are you doing here?" Harry said as he struggled to get up from the ground. "Come to get you of course," Ron replied, "Didn't you get my letter?" Harry looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.  
  
"What letter?" Harry questioned again "The letter telling you all about this." Ron replied, trying to keep a straight face, as he watched Uncle Vernon struggling up from the ground. "Look, the only letter I got," Harry began, "Was telling me to take a walk in the garden!" "You could have been a bit less discrete, Ron," Mr Weasley said, as he spoke up for the first time, "Oh well, we're here now so I guess it doesn't matter. The point is my dear boy," He said as he stared at Harry, "Is that we thought you might like a holiday". "I am on holiday!" Harry said. "No, I mean a real holiday!" Harry stared at Mr Weasley, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, 'a real holiday'! "What? You mean one where you get on an aeroplane and fly to a different country?" Harry said, not believing what he was hearing. "What's an aeroplane?" Fred asked, looking totally lost. "Oh I know what they are," Mr Weasley said, looking very pleased with himself, "It's a sort of flying machine that Muggles use," He turned to Mr and Mrs Dursley, "You don't happen to have one, do you?" He asked eagerly. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia looked back at him as if he was a total loony, but neither of them said a word. "Obviously not." Mr Weasley realised, as he noticed the faces he was now getting from Harry's Aunt and Uncle! "Are we going to leave today, Dad?; or do you insist on staring at these muggles as if they're aliens?" George said, as he ushered his twin brother into the house. They came out a few minutes later carrying Harry's belongings, Hedwig's cage, and even his broomsticks, which Harry knew, the twins had had to pick the lock of the cupboard under the stairs, to get! "Well we best be off then." Mr Weasley said, tearing his eyes away from the electric fan he could see in the Dursley's conservatory. He shepherded the 4 boys towards the portkey and five seconds later they were gone, leaving a confused pair of muggles staring at the birdbath. Dudley came out of the  
house and looked up at his parents. "What's up with you?" He said!  
  
"Did you see their faces?" Ron laughed, as he sat around the table along with his 5 relatives and Harry. "Yes, I thought that quite odd," Mr Weasley said, sounding rather puzzled, "I thought my aeroplane question was perfectly clear!" The three Weasley brothers, their father and now Harry, had returned back at The Burrow, and had been met by Mrs Weasley, Ginny(the youngest of the Weasleys) and Bill(the oldest). Now the seven of them sat round the kitchen table, as Mrs Weasley made dinner. "Where are we going on holiday?" Harry blurted out suddenly; he was becoming quite excited of the idea of going on his first holiday!"  
  
"New Zealand," Mr Weasley said, "Charlie's just started working there and he's managed to get us cheap prices. "We thought it would be a lovely idea if you and Hermione came too!" Mrs Weasley continued. "Hermione's coming too?." Harry asked, excitedly. "Oh, yes," Mrs Weasley replied, "She's going to meet us there as she's already in Spain with her parents." "I told you all this is my letter, Harry!" Ron said, looking confused.  
  
"I think Hedwig must have dropped it or something, because I never got it!" Harry said.  
  
"Yeh...probably." Ron agreed, though neither of them sounded too sure! 


End file.
